On Monday, the NBA released the 2017-18 NBA schedule, which means that the Los Angeles Lakers now officially have their calendar set for the 2017-18 NBA season.
Ahead of the weekend, the league had already leaked that the Lakers would open their season against the LA Clippers on Oct. 19, and the team will embark on a quick getaway to Phoenix for a back-to-back to start the season. In all the Lakers have 13 back-to-backs on the season, but the team will no longer faces four games in five nights. The NBA pointedly lengthened the schedule to avoid those scheduling burdens.
Incidentally, the Lakers will also end the season against the LA Clippers, though the Lakers will feature as the away team on that occasion. The cross town rivals also play on Dec. 29 with the Lakers playing as hosts and on Nov. 27 with the Clippers pulling out their floor for the night.
The Lakers face four four-game road trips throughout the season, but the longest trip of the season comes in late January, when the Lakers head East for five games.
Though Lonzo Ball faced the Boston Celtics in Summer League, Ball will get his first taste of the Lakers versus Celtics rivalry at the NBA level when the Lakers travel to TD Garden on Nov. 8. The Celtics come to LA on Jan. 23.
Ball, who was the no. 2 pick in the 2017 NBA Draft, expects to face no. 1 pick Markelle Fultz on Nov. 15, when the Philadelphia 76ers come to town. On the topic of point guard match ups, Ball and the Lakers will host former Lakers' lottery pick D'Angelo Russell on Friday, Nov. 3 at Staples Center, and the crowd reaction off the court and the direct match up on the court that date should be entertaining.
Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and the Golden State Warriors come to visit Staples Center twice: Nov. 29 and Dec. 18. Meanwhile, LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers make their annual pilgrimage to the Lakers' home court on Mar. 11 in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
In all, 35 of the Lakers' 82 games will be nationally televised on either NBATV, TNT, ABC or ESPN. To see the full Lakers' 2017-18 schedule, click here.
